Vehicle door construction



June 15, 1937. F. J. WESTROPE VEHICLE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 2.1954 s Sheets Sheet 1 V JNVENTOR. Fred \Z" W255)" aye.

ATTORNEYS.

June 15, 1937. F. J. WESTROPE VEHICLE DOOR GON STRUCTI ON Filed Jan. 2,1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

.,E. Fred J7 14/6 llllllllllllll ll fiww ATTORNEY-5.

June 15,1937. P s-1.1. wsT oPE; 2,084,069

VEHICLE D OOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 2, 1954 s Sheets- Sheet s IINVENTOR. Fred J. 14/65 ATTORNEYS Patented June 15, 1937 UNITED STATES2,084,069 VEHICLE noon CONSTRUCTION Fred J. Westrope, Detroit, Michassignor to The Murray Corporation of America, a corporation of DelawareApplication January 2, 1934, Serial No. 704,813 4 Claims. (01. 296-44)My invention relates to vehicle bodies and particularly to the doorstructure therefor and the method of mounting the doors on the body.

Heretofore it has always been the practice to employ pivotal hinges,that is to say hinges having wing portions pivoted together which extendoutwardly from the body. Such hinges not only produce an unsightlyappearance but also offer a certain degree of resistance to the airwhich is objectionable on the present day type of streamline body. Someeffort has been made to eliminate the unsightly appearanceof the hingeby constructing a concealed hinge of the wing type made up from aplurality of links WhiCh,'Wh118 an improvement over the presentconstruction, is not entirely satisfactory in view of the weight of thedoor and the ruggedness that must be built in such hinges.

In practicing my invention, I materially advance the art of supportingdoors on'vehicle bodies by utilizing a pin and socket connection at thebottom, top or intermediate side edge of the door, in aligned relationand disposed within the thickness of the door to be invisible from theinside and outside of the body. I In some instances the hinge may beemployed only at the bottom to take the support of the door so that onlya single hinge near the belt line or top of the body need be employedwhich may or may not project outwardly from the side of the vehicle. Asa further extension of the invention, I may employ a concealed type ofhinge in the place of the standard type at the belt line or top abovereferred to, made up of a plurality of links. This hinge will only beemployed to position the door and not to support its weight which isentirely supported by the pivot and socket connection at the bottom edgeof the door.

As a further extension of the inventiona recess portion of the bodyadjacent to the door may be provided in which a hinge may extend alongthe sidesurface of the body to have the pivot thereof aligned with thepin and socket supporting the bottom portion of the door. Such a hingewill be visible from the side of the body but will be removed from theflow of air along the. body side. However, as a preferred form, I employboth the pin and socket connections at the top and bottom edges of thedoor so as to have the pivotal support for the door entirely invisi blefrom the exterior of the body. In this construction when the door istion extend over the wheel housing, I may align the pivots in offsetrelation from the door edges to have a portion of the door move inwardlyformed to have a porwhile another portion'of the door moves outwardly. I

When, however, the doors are both pivoted at the central portion I mayeliminate the pillars and mount both edges of the door on the pin andsocket pivots. In this construction, either door or both will beswingable without interfering with the other and at the same time thepillars are eliminated at the junction of the two doors. As astill'further extension of my invention, I may employ a single doorswung on pivots intermediate the forward and rear compartments so as tohave the rear portion move in while the front portion moves out to havethe front and rear compartments open to the egress or ingress of theoccupants. Inany of these constructions the pin and socket connectionmaterially adds to the strength of the support for the door, enhancesthe appearance of the vehicle and provides a smooth side to the streamof air flowing thereacross.

Accordingly, the main objects of my invention are: to provide a pin andsocket pivot support for a door which is mounted within the doorstructure so as to be invisible from the interior or exterior ofthe'vehicle; ing for the hinges of a door by mounting them intermediatethe front and rear edges to have a portion of the door move inwardlywhileanother portion moves outwardly; to provide a pin and socket pivotin the body portion of the door and a single small hinge near the beltline or top of the body to position the door, the weight of which issupported by the pin and socket pivot; to provide two doors pivoted inadjacent relation so as to eliminate the central pillar thereof byhaving the doors mounted at the top and bottom edges on pin and socketpivots to permit either one to swing relative to the other and to besealed relative to each other when the doors are in closed position: toprovide a single door for closing the front and rear compartmentsof abody pivoted intermediate its ends at the top and bottom of the door tohave one portion swing inwardly while another portion swings outwardlyand, in general, to materially strengthen the pivotal support 'for thedoor of a body in such manner as to enhance the appearance of thevehicle, to provide a more durable construction and toeliminate-resistance to wind along the side of the vehicle.-

Other objects and features of-novelty of my inventionwill be eitherspecifically-pointed out or will become apparent when referring, forabetter understanding of my invention,to the fol- '10 3-3 thereof;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 1, taken on the line H thereof,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 1, taken on the line 5-5 thereof, I

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 1, taken on the line 8-6 thereof,

Fig. 7 is a view of a body, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1,showing a modified form of my invention,

. Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. -7, taken on the line 8-8 thereof,-

Flg. 9 is a view of a body, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1,showing a modified form thereof, Fig. 10 is a view of a body, similar tothat illustrated in Fig. 9, showing a modified form thereof, Fig. 11 isan enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 10,taken on the line |l-ll thereof,

Fig. 12 is a view of a body, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1,showing a modified form thereof.

and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view. of the structure illustrated inFig. 12, taken on the line l3 l3 thereof. The vehicle body illustratedin Fig. 1. comprises a body portion lI, a front door I and a rear doorII. The front door is constructed to have a pivot l3 and a hinge l3mounted on a central pillar 2| of the body. The lower pivot I3 isillustrated enlarged in Fig. 3 as comprising a pin 22 and a socket 23which substantially support the entire weight 'of the door, the pivotformed thereby being aligned with a pivot 2| on the hinge II. This hingeis of conventional form except that it is much smaller than a standardhinge and only one hinge is employed in view of the pin and socket Idoor which substantially supports the door. In the construction hereinshown the door is flanged outwardly at 25 to extend over the.proiectingfloor portion 26 supported/on the bracket 21.

The pin 22 is provided with a bracket 23 whichlssecuredtothesidesillportionofthebodyhaving an apertured extension 29in which the pin 22 is screwed. The pin is provided with a e co 3| forthe P p se of lubrication. Suitable means (not shown)- retains thesocket 23 supported on thepanelingofthebodyin-arigidmanner. In thisconstruction the eight of the door is substantially supported at thebottom by the concealed pin and socket connection and a materialreduction in strength is le in the hinge I! which positions the door,rather than adds materially to its support. p

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a further extension of the inventionwherein a pin and socket hinge 33 similar to the .pivot ll described inrelation to the front door "is mounted inwardly of the edge of'the reardoor i1. .-Directly aligned with the pivot formed thereby is a hinge 32oi the concealed type. The hinge 32 is made, p 0! a pi lconnection atthe bottom of the rality of links and, since material strength is notrequired at this portion of the door, the concealed type of hinge cansuccessfully be employed at this point. The rear portion of the doorrearwardly of the aligned pivots 30 and 32 moves in- 5 wardly as thefront portion of the door moves outwardly'in a manner which will bedescribed more fully hereinafter.

The junction of the door at the pillar 2| is illustrated enlarged inFig. 4, wherein the hinge 10 i8 is illustrated as being entirelyconcealed from view and so located as to permit the door to freely passby the edge of the pillar when the outer edge of the door is swung open.In Fig. 5, I have illustrated asection through the rear pivot 30 where-15 I in a pin 33 is supported by the bracket which is secured to thelower and side portion of the vehicle door by screws 35. The pin 33rests within a socket 36 which is secured to the reinforcing elements 31above the wheel housing, by 20 screws 38. As pointed out hereinabove, inview ofthe offset relation of the pivot inwardly of the side edges ofthe door a portion of the door moves inwardly as illustrated in Fig. 6.The Jamb face of the body 39 in which the door abuts is curved 25 on anarc struck from the center of the pivot 30 to permit all parts ofthedoorto pass thereby.

A suitable sealing element ll is provided on the door for engaging thearcuate surface at the edge of the door opening of the body tocompletely 3 seal the door against ingress of moisture and which isfurther sealed in a conventional manner I by the inner bead 4 In Fig. 7,I have shown a further extension of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1,wherein the 5 hinge 32 thereof has a hinge l2 substituted therefor whichis recessed in the side of the body to provide .a streamline effectthereto. As illus- 'trated more clearly in the enlarged view of Fig. 8,

a recess 43 is provided in the body in which an 40 inner wing 44 issecured while a movable wing 45 is likewise disposed in the recess .andis flanged inwardly at 43 and secured to the door in a conventionalmanner. The pivot 41 of the hinge is aligned with the pivot of the hinge30 and, while 45 the hinge 42 is visibl it does not protrude from theside of the body and thereby provides a streamline eifect thereto. InFig. 7. I have illustrated a hinge 32 employed at the belt line or topof the door l6 similar to the hinge 32 employed on 50 door I]illustrated in Fig. 1. The hinge is invisible and is aligned with thesocket hinge l3 1 employed at the bottom of the door which takessubstantially all the weight of the door. The entire surface of the dooris devoid of visible 55 hinges and a complete Provided.

the pivot33alignedsothattherearportionl3ofthe door moves inwardly whilethe front portion 4 moves outwardly, ina manner as above.

'the front portion Ii of the door moves in moves outwardly. A completeseal is provided about the door in the manner above specified andillustrated more particularly in Fig. 6 for the portions moving in whilethe conventional sealing for the portions moving outwardly is employed.

In Fig. 10, I have illustrated the pairs of hinges l8 and 3B of the pinand socket type for securing the doors l5 and H to the body at theiradjacent ends. The pillar 2| is entirely eliminated since the doors aresupported on the top rail and bottom sill of the body. The edges of thedoor can be disposed closely adjacent to each other, as illustrated moreparticularly in Fig. 11. The adjacent rails of the door have a curvedsurface 53 to permit the edges 49 and 52 to readily pass by the oppositedoors when either one is opened. In the same manner,- both doors may beopened at the same time without conflicting with each other. A sealingstrip 54 is carried by each of the doors which mate with each other toform a seal for the space between the doors. A conventional head 42 isprovided on one of the doors to seal the crack therebetween on theinside of the vehicle. I

As a further extension of my invention, I have illustrated in Fig. 12 avehicle body having a front and a rear compartment wherein a single door55 is pivoted onsupports I8 made up-of a pin and socket connection andsecured to the top rail and bottom sill immediately behind the frontseat 56. The door will swing on the pivots Hi to have the rear portion5'! moved inwardly while the front portion158 moves outwardly, as moreclearly illustrated in Fig. 13. In view of the change in design of thebody, this construction is becoming more practical and has certainadvantages in that the control of the opening of the rear doors iswholly retained by the occupant of the vehicle or at least thoseoccupying the front seat.

While I have illustrated two types of pin and socket hinges l8 and 30,it is to be understood that either or both may be employed on eithertype of door or in combination on a single door. It is to be alsounderstood that other types of pin and socket elements may be utilizeddepending upon the shape of the door and body. The supporting of thedoor on the sill and top rail adds material strength to the pivotelements for the door and at the same time relieves the door jambs andpillars from the stress which they were subject to heretofore. Theparticular disposition of the pin and socket connection within thethickness of the door completely hides the pivotal elements from sightand 4 streamlines the body. The application of thls type of hingeinterjacent the front and rear edges of the door tends to more evenlybalance the weight of the door and permits a portion of the door to moveinwardly while other portions of the door move outwardly. The sealing ofthe door edges is reversed at the inwardly moving portion while thestandard method of sealing is retained,

on the portions moving outwardly. When the pin and socket hinges areemployed at the abutted edges of the door the pillar is entirelyeliminated and the edges are closely disposed to each other andeffectively sealed and so arranged that either or both doors may beopened independently of the other or at the same time withoutinterference.

While I have described and illustrated several embodiments of myinvention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variouschanges,

omissions, additions and substitutions may be made therein withoutdeparting fromthe spirit and scope of myinvention, as set forth in theaccompanying claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A door for a vehicle body having top and bottom edges disposedsubstantially horizontal, and

one edge substantially inclined to the vertical, a

hinge-element on one of said horizontal edges, and a second hingeelement aligned with said first hinge element and disposed interjacentsaid top and bottom edges on said inclined edge.

2. A door for a vehicle body having a sloping side edge, a pin andsocket connection at the bot tom of the door inwardly of said edge, aconcealed hinge in the sloping side edge of the door having a pintlealigned with said pin, whereby the pivotal support for the door isentirely invisible and the portion on either side of the aligned hingedpin and pintle is moved in opposite directions when the door is opened.

3. A door for a vehicle body having a sloping edge, pin and socketpivots disposed at the bottom of the door and the side edge, said pivotsbeing in aligned relation, the portions of the door on either side ofsaid alignment being movable in the opposite direction.

4. A door for a vehicle body having a sloping edge, pin and socketpivots disposed at the bottom of the door and at a side edge, saidpivots being in aligned relation, the portions of the door on eitherside of said alignment being movable in the opposite direction, andsealing means for both portions of the door.

FRED J. WESTROPEL

